


will you fly with me?

by cheolsoos



Category: Day6 (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: (the author is very sorry lol), M/M, Non Idol AU, Slow Updates, all characters are aged up/down accordingly to fit into a timeline- all around hs/college, slight angst, they all live in LA and speak english AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-03-17 02:27:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13649529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheolsoos/pseuds/cheolsoos
Summary: Joshua falls for a sweet boy working at his local In-N-Out.





	1. one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this work was previously uploaded back on february 4th, 2017, and it has since then be revamped and rewritten!! it was titled “forever young” but has since then been changed for obvious reasons :^) build a rocket w me blast it off to the sky-

**jaesus 9:28am**  
good moooorning america 

**jaesus 9:50am**  
wow. I’m hurt rn

**jaesus 9:56am**  
are U rly sleeping........

**jaesus 10:01am**  
joshua  
hong

**jaesus 10:08am**  
if you don’t get yo ass UP

**josh 10:10am**  
Jae. Why.

**jaesus 10:11am**  
GOOOOD MOOORNING AMERICAAAA

**joshu 10:18am**  
There’s no excuse for you texting me this early on a Saturday 

**jaesus** **10:19am**  
uh! I wanted to get lunch  
I want to see you  
don’t you miss me  
don’t answer that! I know you do  
who wouldn’t miss this fine ass?

**joshu 10:24am**  
Well

**jaesus 10:25am**  
don't be Rude

**joshu 10:28am**  
Ok I'm going back to sleep

**jaesus 10:28am**  
NO  
listen to me.  
I’m literally offering you food rn. you know I’m broke and can’t be doin this everyday. this is once in a lifetime here

**joshu 10:33am**  
You finally have money to your name? I'm shaking

**jaesus 10:34am**  
first of all,

**joshu 10:34am**  
Don’t start

**jaesus 10:35am**  
meet me in an hour  
in n out we always go to

**joshu 10:40am**  
Ugh

**jaesus 10:41am**  
me thinks what you meant to say was: I love you jae. thanks for sacrificing so much to feed me jae. I'll see you soon jae.

**joshu 10:41am**  
Nobody said that but go off

**jaesus 10:41am**  
I am tired of you

 

 

Joshua wants to die.

Okay, maybe that was a little bit dramatic. He just wants to kick Jae’s ass, and then go home and sleep. Sure, Jae had offered him lunch at his favorite place in downtown LA and he appreciated the sentiment, but Joshua's favorite place was in the middle of town, always bustling and busy with starving teenagers despite the time. But especially at noon. On a Saturday.

Joshua takes a deep breath and reluctantly forces himself to walk through the front doors and right into the giant crowd of people poorly lining up at the register. He resists the urge to groan. Who's bright idea was it to put the register right in front of the only entrance? 

He begins to weave through a bunch of sweaty high school students, steeling himself as he inevitably runs into more people than he'd like to. He gets many dirty looks, but returns them all with weak smiles and muttered apologies. He'd love to return the glares, but his mother raised him better than that, so he tightens his jaw and subdues the urge to be petty.

After the longest couple of seconds of his life, Joshua reaches a break in the crowd and nearly cries tears of relief when he spots Jae sitting comfortably in a somewhat quieter corner of the restaurant. The older boy has two meals in front of him, but he's scrolling through his phone with one hand and mindlessly eating fries with the other. He's probably on Twitter, Joshua thinks, starting fights with Jamie or quoting tweets that don’t concern him. Jae’s made an impressive dent in his fries, and Joshua hopes he didn't keep him waiting too long as he makes his way over to the table.

"You here all alone?" Joshua makes a last-second choice to sneak up on the other, deepening his voice and leaning with both his hands on the small table. Jae looks up, startled, much to Joshua’s glee, but the shock doesn't stop him from rolling his eyes.

"Ha ha ha, we’ve got real clown here, ladies and gentlemen," Jae deadpans, pretending to gesture to those around them as if they were an audience.

“Clown?” Joshua hums thoughtfully, taking his seat across from the other boy. “I knew I was funny, but maybe not a clown.”

Jae gives him a look, _The Look_ , his signature I’m-tired-of-you look that Joshua has gotten very familiar with over the course of their friendship. He returns it with a smile and a poorly executed wink, which makes the boy across from him start snickering.

"You should stop," Jae gestures towards his face, “doing that. It’s sad that you can’t do it right.” He slides Joshua his meal from across the table.

"Valid... but I won’t,” Joshua doesn’t skip a beat, gratefully accepting his tray from Jae. “Thank for this, by the way,” he teases, grabbing a few fries and swiping them through the last of the ketchup on Jae’s tray, ignoring his grumble of protest. “I know it’s probably gonna put a real dent in your budget this month.”

“Ouch?” Jae says, pausing where he’s reaching for another packet of ketchup. He almost looks genuinely hurt as he shakes his head sadly, but Joshua knows better. “That’s cold.”

"Cold, but accurate," Joshua ignores the dirty look thrown his way, "you say you're broke almost every day!"

Jae dismisses the boy with a flourish of his free hand, his left hand occupied with a ketchup packet. Joshua eyes it warily, knowing that the other boy was less than graceful and contemplates whether or not he should duck under the table as he attempts to tear it open.

"Need me to open that for you?" 

"Ha ha ha, I can open it, but thanks, Prince Charming."

"I know you can, but I'm worried about the _mess_ -"

"I opened the others perfectly, so jokes on y-"

Jae doesn't finish, as the inevitable happens and the packet nearly rips in half, splattering in different directions. Joshua recoils away immediately, as do the people occupying the tables around them. He narrowly misses a few stray drops that reach his side of the table.

Joshua cracks an eye open and spares a glance at Jae, who is somehow sporting a look mixed of total defeat and exhaustion all at once.

"Don't say anything."

Joshua does his best to hide his laughter, but between the ketchup splattered on Jae's glasses and the looks on the faces of the people surrounding them, it's easier said than done. He brings a hand up to cover his shit-eating grin and lets out a hum of false concern.

"At least your flannel's red?" Joshua tries.

If looks could kill, Joshua's sure he'd be dead on sight.

"I'll get napkins, then," Joshua announces, standing up abruptly and leaving the table before Jae manages to make a mess of something else.

He takes his sweet time waltzing over to the counter He can make out Jae muttering to himself under his breath for a while, and he tries to subdue the urge to laugh (and fails miserably).

Once he reaches it he stands politely, waiting for some high school student to finish collecting their meal before coming face to face with a young man behind the counter. A young man who flashes him a blinding smile.

Joshua feels his heart skip a beat.

The boy behind the counter is... cute. Really cute. And Joshua doesn't know him, which is odd. Joshua's been to this In N Out so many times since high school, and practically knows every employee that works the counters by a first name basis. But not this boy, with his deep, hypnotizing brown eyes and messy black hair that falls over his forehead. He looks good. Like, really good, Joshua notices, even in his stupid uniform paired with the even stupider hat, and Joshua curses him internally. How is it even possible to look good in that paper stupid hat? Who does this guy think he is?

From how closely Joshua's been examining him, he notices the very subtle change in the handsome boy's demeanor as soon as it occurs; his shoulders drop, his smile slips slightly, and his eyebrows furrow in confusion. 

Then it hits Joshua,  _oh yeah, he's probably wondering why the hell you're staring at him._

"Um, can I help you?" He,  _Hansol,_ asks _,_  Joshua filling in the blank with a quick glance at the boy's name tag, placed crookedly on his chest. His fingers itch to reach over the counter and straighten it out.

"Right, I'm sorry," Joshua stumbles, shaking his head as if to clear his mind. He desperately grasps at anything he can to make this any less awkward than he's already managed and fails, somehow settling with, "I just don't recognize you is all."

This time Hansol's smile drops completely, confusion fully taking over his face. Joshua has to strongly resist the sudden urge to slam his face into the counter.

"I come here often, and, like, I went to school with a lot of people who work here.... so I- didn't recognize you. Yeah." Joshua finished lamely, internally cringing at how stupid he sounds.  _Way to leave an impression, Hong._

"Oh," Hansol's smile returns, but it's a hesitant one, and he leans over the counter slightly and lowers his voice before continuing. "Are you hitting on me?" His tone is teasing, and Joshua would've caught onto it if it weren't for the fact that his entire brain just shut down.

Abort. Cancel. Do not engage. 

Joshua's pretty sure his instant panic shows on his face because not even a second later, Hansol is pulling back and a slightly alarmed look overtakes his features.

"Woah, dude, I-"

"No, no, no," Joshua stumbles, and three no's? _Really, Hong? Unnecessary._

Hansol raises a brow questioningly but still manages to look like he's enjoying Joshua's panic, the dickhead.

"I wasn't- I didn't- I..." Joshua scrambles for an excuse, the gears in his brain working way too fast and finding nothing. He should probably calm down, but he's never been calm a day in his life, so it's definitely not going to happen anytime soon.

"Can I just-" Joshua closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before starting over. "Can I get some extra napkins? Please?"

Hansol's eyes are wide, and he probably thinks Joshua's a little crazy. He nods a little and reaches underneath the counter for a second, before coming back with about a dozen napkins in his hand.

"Here you are," Hansol's smiling like this all very amusing to him, and Joshua decides he hates him.

Joshua mutters a quick "thanks" and turns on his heel to practically sprint towards Jae before he can embarrass himself any further. He internally curses himself the entire trip back to his table.  _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

Jae is giving him the same death stare he was before he got up, and Joshua says nothing, just drops the napkins in front of him and collapses dramatically in his seat. He hopes the embarrassed flush on his face isn't noticeable.

"What, no 'I told you so?' Or better yet, my favorites: 'I offered to open it, Jae. You're an idiot, Jae. You're so clumsy, Jae.'" Jae recites, snatching the napkins up and attempting to salvage his frames. The napkins are definitely too rough to be used to clean his glasses, but Joshua doesn't have the heart to tell him that.

When the younger doesn't respond at all, Jae looks up curiously and sees the mixed look of defeat and embarrassment on Joshua's face. He takes a hint and looks past Joshua, to the counter he was at only moments ago and spots a cute boy. And now, it's his turn to wear a shit-eating grin. Of course.

" _Ooooh_ ~," Jae singsongs, raising his eyebrows at Joshua expectantly. "Did you get his number, at least?" Joshua groans out loud, dropping his face onto the table. He narrowly misses face-planting right into his burger.

"Fuck off," he hisses. "And don't you dare tell Jeonghan." 

Jae doesn't respond, just continues cleaning his glasses and sings something about how the tables have turned. He's totally going to tell Jeonghan.

Joshua craves death for the second time that day.


	2. two

A few days pass since the incident (Joshua's taken to referring to it as "The Incident" in hopes of detaching himself from Hansol and spoiler alert: it hasn't worked), and Joshua spends all his free time catching up on sleep and looking for a job to keep him busy over the summer. At first Jae is relentless with bringing it up, constantly teasing Joshua and jokingly making plans to go back so he can reunite with his lost love, but eventually, work gets busy and his band picks up a few more gigs than usual, so it starts slipping from his mind. Joshua hopes, _prays_ , that he's actually forgotten about it.

But of course, the world must always work against him. It was about 3:00 PM, maybe a week or two after the incident and Joshua had just gotten home from an interview he was feeling pretty good about. He took a warm shower and washed all the godforsaken gel out of his hair, and was lying on his bed, scrolling through his Instagram feed and essentially wasting time as he waited for dinner to be done.

Those of his friends who weren’t constantly swamped with work were out and about every night, constantly posting updates from wild parties or concerts, or anything in-between. None of that was really Joshua’s scene, as he’d much rather stay at home and catch up on sleep than stay up all night getting piss drunk and barely making it home before sunrise. Besides, him living with his parents while away from college really put a damper on that whole wild-college-student image of his anyways (not that he ever had one to begin with).

Joshua liked a few photos here and there, mainly those from Jeonghan, who had been celebrating his anniversary at Disneyland with his boyfriend and was being sickeningly sweet about it, and Minghao, who had just gotten home from vacationing with his family in their hometown, and had been posting back to back pictures of beautiful sights and flaunting expensive outfits that had the older boy’s wallet crying.

A text startled him out of his robotic scrolling and double tapping, and his eyebrows furrow in confusion as he slides the notification open.

 

 **jaesus 3:43pm**  
oh my god  
pls check minghao’s newest insta post right this second

 

Joshua doesn’t bother replying and returns to the app, allowing the feed to refresh itself. He rolls his eyes, preparing himself for something anticlimactic and disappointing, when in fact, the something that he sees makes him sit up so abruptly he nearly chokes on his own spit.

The newest post at the top was from Minghao, posted only a few minutes ago. The picture was aesthetically pleasing, at a very flattering angle and with a filter that complimented the lighting beautifully; very Minghao, indeed, but the picture wasn’t  _of_ Minghao. It was of another guy, another very handsome, familiar guy, with a sharp jawline and strong eyebrows, and Joshua hates how quickly he recognizes him.

 _Nonono, it couldn’t be_ , Joshua’s internal monologue repeats like a mantra, but closer inspection (i.e a look at the caption) confirms his fear. It reads something along the lines of Hansol only being handsome in photos where he isn’t aware of the camera on him, and Joshua zones in on that name.  _Hansol_.

 

 **jaesus 3:45pm**  
that’s your prince charming isn’t it  
I am DYING  
what drama is this

 

Joshua would really love to play this off coolly, act like he hadn't been thinking about Hansol almost every day for the past couple days, act like he had no idea what Jae was talking about and call him crazy, but the older boy would see right through that. Plus, if Jae recognized Hansol from the one second he spent looking at him, of course, Joshua would remember embarrassing himself to hell and back in front of his stupidly handsome face.

 

 **jaesus 3:47pm**  
hao tagged him but his profile is private...  
TRAGIC I know you probably wanted to go through it huh

 **joshu 3:48pm**  
Can you... be quiet

 **jaesus 3:48pm**  
no :^)  
this probably means he’ll be at hao’s welcome home party that he’s throwing this weekend won’t it  
and I know you’re not gonna miss that. it’s minghao  
and all your loser friends from high school will be there too

 

Joshua curses out loud at the realization and throws himself back onto his bed. He can hear Jae calling him dramatic in the back of his mind, but he doesn’t care. 

Of course, this would happen. Just his luck, right? Of course, Joshua would never be able to live his embarrassment down. Of course, he’d maybe have to face Hansol again at Minghao’s party. _Of course_ , he’d have to face the fact that he’s barely gone a day without thinking about Hansol or his cute crooked smile. 

Joshua rubs at his temples furiously as he feels a headache creep up on him. Thinking about how much of an embarrassment he is really takes a lot out of him.

_At least it can't get any worse than this..._

Joshua freezes suddenly, his eyes cracking open and nearly bugging out of his head as another realization dawns upon him. And of fucking course, Jeonghan was going to be there. Jeonghan, who’s known Joshua half as long as Jae has but can somehow read him twice as well, who Joshua has never successfully lied to in his life, who’s been trying his hardest to help Joshua move on from his failed high school relationship.

Joshua feels a wave of sadness clench painfully at his heart at the thought of Junhui Wen. It’s been so long since he’s thought about him, and although the pain isn’t nearly as fresh as it was nearly three years ago, you never really get over your first love, do you? His phone buzzes a few times beside him, but it barely registers.

Junhui was... his dream come true. He was introduced in Joshua’s sophomore year homeroom as a new student, fresh out of China and with little knowledge about the states. His teacher had assigned Joshua, patient, sweet, 16 year old Joshua, to show him around the school and get him familiar with his classes. Communication proved to be difficult at first, but between Junhui’s broken English, Joshua’s mediocre Mandarin, and a whole lot of google translate, they managed to get along pretty well. Junhui joined Joshua’s friends at lunch, and he also joined Joshua home on more than one occasion.

Somewhere between teaching Jun English and showing him around LA, a crush blossomed, and even later along the line, love. Joshua never had a boyfriend before Junhui, and vice versa, so they were a lot of each other’s firsts; first real date, first awkward kiss, first messy sexual encounter. Joshua loved him, and Junhui loved Joshua; they were each other’s first love, but people can fall out of love, apparently, which wasn’t something that Joshua thought would ever be possible. At least, not until another new boy was introduced into their friend group by Soonyoung- somebody by the name of Wonwoo Jeon.

Joshua noticed the change as soon as it happened, the way Junhui made an effort to sit next to the other boy, the way he started distancing himself from Joshua, the way all their conversations ended in petty arguments (with Joshua constantly being the one to reconcile). He tried his hardest not to let go, but after not being told “I love you” back one too many times, a dam broke. It was an emotional, messy breakup, on both parties, Junhui apologizing for hurting Joshua and Joshua apologizing for not being enough. They parted with a hug and a promise to continue to be friends, whether it be for the sake of their giant friend group or themselves, they couldn’t tell you. Things slowly but surely got back to normal despite the nasty tension between the boys fresh out of heartbreak and they all remained friends, throughout the end of junior year and the remainder of senior year. That doesn’t mean it hurt any less when Junhui posted a picture of Wonwoo on Instagram with a bunch of heart emojis in the caption though, because oh boy, did it.

Joshua’s phone buzzes another two times beside him, and he snaps out of his sad reverie. He rubs furiously at his eyes where unfallen tears had started to build up, mad at himself for almost crying over this stupid boy. He promised himself a long time ago he’d stop shedding tears over Junhui Wen. Joshua takes a few deep breaths before he hastily snatches his phone up as a welcome distraction. A quick glance at the time tells him that what felt like a few hours remembering Junhui was apparently only a couple minutes.

 

 **jaesus 3:58pm**  
have you died from embarrassment  
have you finally broken  
is this it

 **jaesus 4:01pm**  
oh man u rly dead af....  
rip josh hong being ur friend was ok

 

Joshua can’t help but break out in a tiny smile in the middle of his mental breakdown at Jae's antics. 

 

 **joshu 4:02pm**  
You’re one of my loser friends from hs too you know that right

 **jaesus 4:02pm**  
I know!!!  
I’m gonna be there too silly :)  
and I know you know this but I won’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I'm just teasing okay?  
we can always skip the party before it gets too wild and go out for late night milkshakes like we usually do   
so pls don’t die on me. who else will I get milkshakes with

 

Joshua feels a lot of the tension melt from his body, and his heart aches again, albeit for a completely different reason. Jae's a handful, always full of jokes and teasing remarks, but he has a subtle, soft side many don't know about. He knows that there's a line between teasing Joshua and making him uncomfortable, and he's never crossed it not once in their friendship. He could be a motivational speaker, relatable and thoughtful, managing to fit in good life lessons and reassuring words between memes and quips.

 

 **joshu 4:05pm**  
I do know  
but thank you for saying it

 **jaesus 4:05pm  
** chocolate milkshake gang till we dieeee

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we got some fuckin backstory..........also happy valentines day, I'm sorry junshua shippers. and,,,I love jaeshua. thank u for ur time!!


	3. three

The day of the party sneaks up on Joshua.

After his conversation with Jae, he was left feeling antsy and anxious. The thought of having to face Hansol again nearly made him sick to his stomach. Of course, the odds of them seeing each other… weren’t very slim. If Hansol meant enough to Minghao that he got featured on the holy grail that was his Instagram feed, for everyone to see, then… if he wanted to avoid Hansol, he’d probably have to avoid Minghao. And those chances? Even slimmer.

It doesn’t help that Minghao had sent him a plethora of texts expressing how thankful he was that Joshua had planned to come to his party, and how excited he was to see him after he’d been out of the country for so long. Even went so far as to post an old picture of their whole crew on a throwback Thursday, while mindfully cropped out two certain He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s (Junhui and Wonwoo). Joshua felt incredibly guilty considering not to see the other boy even for a split second. What kind of a dick move would that be?

So, on the night of the party, Joshua finds himself dressed to slightly impress, in form fitting clothes and hairstyle that reveals far more of his forehead than he’s used to, and rushing down the steps of his family’s home to catch a ride with Jae.

“Is that... seriously what you’re wearing?” Is what Joshua’s greeted with as he slips into the passenger seat.

He scoffs, offended, and looks down at his clothes. A pastel pink button-up, tucked into dark black jeans. Maybe the button-up was a bit much, but... the pants are skin tight, distressed a bit much at the thigh, and also something Minghao picked out for him. Minghao, who spends money on Gucci and Louis Vuitton willingly. That must mean something.

“Josh, broski, I love you... but this is a college party. And you’re dressed for Sunday service.”

“I would never wear these pants to church. My mom would kill me, they’re ripped up and I also can’t wear anything under them!” Joshua defends, crossing his arms over his chest. And then immediately uncrossing them. His shirt was freshly ironed.

“The shirt’s the issue here; _pastel_ pink? For a party where most patrons will be simultaneously drunk _and_ high?” Jae makes a show of shaking his head, mimicking a disappointed parent. Ironic. “C’mere, you’re helpless,” He pops the trunk of his beat-up car and gestures for Joshua to follow him to the back.

Joshua grumbles under his breath but reluctantly follows the older boy. Jae is busy digging around in his disgusting trunk, filled with a confusing amount of fast food wrappers and automobile tools and... whatever else, when Joshua reaches him. The sight’s a bit unsettling.

“ _Aha_!” Jae pops back up from the trunk with a black leather jacket. “This’ll do.”

“How long has that been back there?” Joshua questions as he gingerly takes the jacket between two fingers. It doesn’t look filthy, which is surprising considering how long it took Jae to dig up from the depths of his trunk, but it never hurts to be safe.

“Since my last gig. I think... It doesn’t matter.” The older boy slams the trunk shut. “Untuck that shirt and put it on.”

“I’m not untucking my shirt.”

Joshua slips his arms into the jacket, and it’s big on him, which isn’t too surprising. Jae may be just as scrawny as him, but he’s long and gangly, unlike Joshua. The sleeves of his jacket almost completely conceal his fingertips, but it’s warm and smells like the masculine cologne Jae loves to abuse, so he won’t complain.

“ _Wooow_ , Hong,” Jae whistles lowly. “You sure you wanna go to this party or would you rath-“

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Joshua rolls his eyes and turns on his heel to make his way back to the passenger side.

“On second thought, you shouldn’t untuck your shirt. Your ass looks A1.”

Joshua flips him off before he takes his seat.

 

 

 

Upon entering the party, Joshua gets hit with an overwhelming sense of deja vu. The front door opens to a large hallway, and the hallway leads to a giant living room, where music is booming and a decent crowd is gathered. It’s like a path to hell filled with far too many people, and he craves death. Crowds are too overwhelming. Why did he agree to come to this party, again? Scratch that, why does he live in the biggest city in California, again?

But then Jae’s there, grounding him with a hand on his shoulder and a reassurance whispered in his ear, and Joshua feels his heart rate return to a safer number of beats per minute. The older boy leads him carefully through couples who’ve decided that the hallway was the best place to canoodle and around the sweaty mass of bodies gyrating at the centre of the living room, and finally into a nearly empty kitchen. The loud bass from the music is still reverberating in his ears, but the lack of people is welcoming.

“Josh!” A familiar voice calls, and Jae detaches himself from Joshua’s side just in time for the smaller boy to catch an armful of Minghao.

“How wholesome,” Jae teases, ruffling Minghao’s hair.

“Hey, bro,” Minghao scrunches up his nose cutely at Jae as he pulls away from Joshua. “I’m glad you guys could make it.”

”You know we wouldn’t miss it-“

“Seriously,” Minghao cuts Jae off the address Joshua. “I know this isn’t your scene. I missed you a lot, and I appreciate it.”

“I’ll appreciate it, too, if you somehow managed to purchase anything other than hard alcohol,” Joshua jokes, although his kind words leave a warm feeling in his chest. Minghao sends him an apologetic smile, but isn’t given the opportunity to reply as the back door to the kitchen is quite literally thrown open.

“What up, what up!” A loud voice booms, and Joshua nearly jumps out of his skin.

Two unrealistically tall boys waltz into the kitchen, followed by a more realistically sized crowd, and an ungodly amount of beer and booze. Joshua recognizes the bigger boys as Matthew, an older friend of Jae’s, and Johnny, a cute boy he’s spoken to a few times between classes they shared under their business major. The smaller crowd he can’t really decipher, but that’s mostly at fault of the jolly green giants that have taken charge of the pack.

Packs of beer are thrown onto the counter, with glass bottles of vodka and whiskey set down more carefully.

“Joshy Josh! I didn’t know you were gonna be here,” Matthew smiles so big his eyes nearly disappear, and Joshua gives him an endeared smile. Matthew is a bit of an oaf, but he’s sweet, funny, and a lot smarter than he lets on. All the working out he does makes him one of the best huggers Joshua knows, too, so he considers him a good friend.

Speaking of hugs, Matthew takes that moment to jog around the kitchen island and gather Joshua up in his arms. He makes a noise of protest, but it’s mostly for show. Truthfully, he doesn’t believe anybody would complain about being picked up and swung around by a tall boy with such nice arms. Once his feet are safely back on the floor, Johnny sends him a toothy smile and a shy wave, and Joshua returns the gesture warmly. He doesn’t know Johnny outside of school, so maybe a hug wouldn’t be the most appropriate, but he seems like he’d be a great hugger too.

“I could disown you for stepping foot in here with that Raiders hat,” Jae snickers in lieu of greeting, and it breaks out an argument regarding sports teams between him and Matthew. Johnny joins them, unsurprisingly, and Joshua checks out at the accusation of someone bandwagoning.

Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Amber make themselves known from behind the huge group, and a dainty boy with silver hair and smile to die for curls an arm around Johnny’ waist from behind in an attempt to tug him out of the petty argument. Joshua’s reminded as to why he never pursued the tiny he crush he had on Johnny, and Jeonghan sends all of them a disgusted look over his shoulder.

“The testosterone is strong with these ones,” Jeonghan sniffs, and his boyfriend snorts from beside him.

“You’re all men here,” Amber reminds him. She sends a friendly wave in Joshua’s direction.

“But they’re... _straights_ ,” Jeonghan shudders for dramatic effect.

“Johnny isn’t straight,” Amber corrects, and Jeonghan mutters a “could’ve fooled me” under his breath.

“I’m not straight either,” The silver-haired boy looks almost offended at the mere idea, and Joshua decides he wants to be his friend.

“We all know that, Ten,” Amber says to the shorter boy, and the boy- Ten- sends her a wink. “And I thought Jae was bi?”

“He is,” Joshua confirms. “They’re all gay. They’re just such dude-bros sometimes. It’s a bit difficult to stomach.”

That gets a laugh out of everybody, albeit some were a bit sarcastic. A sense of pride fills Joshua. Maybe he could get through this night after all... just as long as he steers clear of a certain handsome character, with sparkly eyes and a strong jawline and-

“Speaking of gay dude-bros,” Minghao announces, and as if on cue, to spite Joshua’s wishful thinking, a familiar boy tumbles over the threshold and into the room.

Everybody turns to face the commotion, and the boy raises his head with a sheepish smile. He’s handsome, is all Joshua can think before the gears in his mind click into place and he feels his heart stop in his chest. It’s the In-n-Out boy. Hansol. Jae shoots him a knowing look.

“You good, dude?” Matthew asks, eyeing the way the boy is warily using a single hand to support himself in the door frame.

“Yeah, yeah, but uh, full disclosure...” Hansol straightens his posture and begins a shaky but somehow still confident walk towards Minghao. “I... may be a little high right now.”

Joshua can’t really hear him, or hear anything, except for his last few brain cells officially sizzling out. It was about time. He sweeps his eyes over Hansol's frame, and he looks just a handsome as Joshua tried not to remember him, except even better. He’s dressed comfortably in a pair of form-fitting jeans and a loose sweater, with a black beanie shoved over his head. His hair sticks out messily, but it’s messy in a hot way, and between that and the pretty shade of pink that paints his cheeks, Joshua feels the fondness for the boy he’d been trying to suppress multiply by a tenfold.

“Why in the world are you high?” Jeonghan questions with a furrow of his eyebrows.

“I don’t drink,” Hansol deflates. “Well, I can’t. I’m 19, but also it’s gross anyway.”

“But you... smoke weed?”

“Smoking isn't my forte. Not to shame those that do, but, I prefer edibles.”

“That isn’t-“

“Just don’t. You’ll be arguing all night,” Minghao butts in, rolling his eyes. He turns to Hansol and then continues, “You don’t show up to a party high. You bring the weed to the party and share it.”

“I figured it would’ve worn off by now.” Hansol is adorably confused, with his brows furrowed and a slight pout adorning his lips, and Joshua's just about ready to tap out. “The brownies were stronger than I thought. Just give me like an hour.”

A weird silence follows the admission. Jeonghan and Seungcheol, ever the parents, are eyeing Hansol somehow simultaneously out of judgement and concern, Matthew grumbles something about wanting a brownie, and Minghao clears his throat to get everybody’s attention.

“This is Hansol, everybody,” Minghao tries, grabbing the boy in question by the shoulder next to him. “Hansol, the moron who tried arguing with you-“ “ _Excuse_ _me_?” “-is Jeonghan. That’s Cheol, Jeonghan’s boyfriend. Those two giants are Matthew and Johnny, the short one is Ten, that’s Amber, and then we have Joshua.”

Hansol smiles a cute smile and waves awkwardly at everyone respectively as he learns their name. Minghao ends with his free hand landing on Joshua’s shoulder, and Hansol’s frozen on the spot as his eyes meet Joshua’s for the first time since he’s walked in.

“This... is Joshua?”

“The one and only!” Jae shouts, throwing a heavy arm around Joshua’s shoulders and disrupting Minghao’s hand. The smile on his face can only be described as shit-eating, and Joshua kind of wants to punch him.

“I’ve told him a lot about you,” Minghao says to Joshua, but his smile falters at the look on Joshua’s face. He turns his head to look at Hansol, and the smile completely disappears at the mirrored expression he wears.

“Do you two... know each other?” Jeonghan raises a curious brow at Joshua. He has a mischievous glint in his eyes that Joshua doesn’t care for at all.

“No.”

“Yeah, they do.”

Joshua feels a sudden itch to take Jae by the arm over his shoulder and suplex him into the kitchen tile. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the upper body strength for such a move, so he settles with a bony elbow to the side. Jae yelps and recoils immediately, catching everybody’s attention.

“We don’t... know each other. Personally,” Joshua cringes at how very suspicious and totally unconvincing he sounds. Amber, Johnny, and Ten have lost interest in the situation and have taken to cracking open a few beers, but everybody else’s expectant looks spike his anxiety. Jeonghan already looks like he’s forming a whole romantic backstory in his head, his expression slightly scaring Joshua, and the panic is probably readable on his face. Talk about deja vu, huh?

“I’ve seen him at work, once,” Hansol sends Joshua a reassuring smile, and Joshua feels himself fall a little harder. “He was getting napkins for, hm... that one,” Hansol points at Jae, “who somehow managed to get a single packet of ketchup on everything within a mile radius of his table.”

Everybody’s attention has officially shifted to Jae, and the offended noise he chokes on is masked by Matthew’s loud bark of laughter. Joshua let’s out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as the somewhat tense situation defuses itself.

“If you guys are done being weird,” Amber calls from the island at the centre of the kitchen, “we cracked open this pack of beer and Ten is opening the booze.”

Joshua takes another deep breath as the group dissipates and everybody leaves him for the booze. He hears Jeonghan ask Minghao where the rest of his kids are, and the conversation from before is quickly forgotten. At least, he hopes it is. He leans against the counter, exhausted and grateful for a moment to himself, but he doesn’t miss the piercing stare Ten has fixed him with, which makes him feel a bit judged. He looks down at the toe’s of his sneakers in embarrassment and misses the way Hansol glances at him in concern.

 

 

 

If you would believe it, Joshua ended up being abandoned in the kitchen.

Minghao tried his best the drag the poor boy out onto the dance floor, as did everybody else, even going so far as to promising to form a protective circle around him so that nobody would _dare_ to touch him, but the last thing Joshua wanted to do was dance. He turned them all away and weakly tried to convince him that he would have a blast sitting in the kitchen sober and alone. He even resisted Seungcheol’s pouting, and his big, round puppy eyes. Nothing would break him tonight.

Most of the them eventually gave up on trying to get Joshua to socialize and, well, enjoy himself. A few disappeared into the room filled with the intimidating crowd and trashy music, and a few others made their way into the back for God know’s what.

That left Joshua alone, perched on the counter. Alone with his thoughts. The worst punishment.

“Not much of a drinker, huh?”

Joshua startles at the sudden voice right above him and looks up see an apologetic Johnny offering him a water bottle.

“What gave it away?” Joshua asks bitterly, accepting the bottle and doing his best not to dwell on the fact that all his friends ended up abandoning him in the kitchen. He chose this, so blaming his friends who even tried to stay with him was childish, but hey, he'd take the blame for that over his own dead body.

“Well-“

“That was a rhetorical question, baby,” Ten makes his presence known from behind Johnny. He makes quite a show, pushing past Johnny in a flourish of a metallic silver shirt to get comfortable next to Joshua on the counter. The way he had to hop was cute but also graceful in a way Joshua would never understand.

“More of a wine guy, myself,” Joshua admits.

“A cultured man, I respect that,” Johnny laughs, leaning against the counter next to Ten. “I’m not a big drinker either. I’m designated driver for this one,” he gestures to Ten, “and his wild friends.”

“They’re your friends, too,” Ten points a finger into Johnny’s chest, before fixing his attention back to Joshua. “Anyways, why do you look so sad?”

Joshua's jaw drops slightly at the question. Well, he suspected that the couple was probably suspicious as to why he’d been sitting out of most… activities (read: drinking and dancing, aka the only things one is able to do at a party), but he definitely didn't expect to be outright asked why he looked pathetic. Johnny elbows Ten and whispers something under his breath to him, which results in a dramatic roll of Ten’s eyes.

"I'm not sad,” Joshua loves denying his feelings.

“Bullshit, it’s all over your face," Joshua's jaw snaps shut. "Maybe you’re not sad, but you’ve been acting strange since Hansol stumbled into the kitchen.” Ten’s fixed him with the same piercing stare he did earlier, and Joshua feels himself shrink back when he sees it in his peripheral. “So, what’s the deal with that?”

“No judgement,” Johnny cuts in, quickly. “Just... genuine curiosity and concern for your wellbeing.”

Joshua can’t believe that these boys he hardly knows are more concerned about how he’s feeling than his own friends. Granted, his friends have attempted to get him to open up multiple times before, and have only ever gotten pushed away in response but… still. Something tells him that neither of them plan on leaving until they find out what’s bugging him, which makes him seriously consider spilling his heart out to them. Johnny he knows and believes wouldn’t judge him too harshly, if at all, but Ten... he doesn’t seem mean, per se, but he has an air of confidence around him that makes Joshua feel like he should kneel at his feet and never make eye contact unless he’s directly addressed. Joshua risks a glance up, and both boys are looking at him expectantly. Ten a bit impatient, but Johnny a bit encouragingly.

“We don’t really... there’s no history there,” Joshua’s hesitation is clear in the way he stumbles over his words. “What he said about just seeing him once at work, that’s true. But...” He furrows his brows thinking about his reaction when Hansol accused him of being a flirt.

“Hm... okay. So an infatuation?” Ten questions and Joshua nods, tired and defeated. “So is this a _he’s-really-cute-and-you’re-a-sap_ infatuation or a _he’s-really-hot-and-you-wanna-fuck-him_ infatuation?”

Joshua chokes on his spit and Ten has the audacity to smirk. Johnny makes an alert sound and rushes over to pound on Joshua’s back as the other boy hacks up air.

“You can’t just accuse people of wanting to fuck each other,” Johnny says, exasperated. He opens the water bottle he handed Joshua earlier, and Joshua accepts it gratefully.

“I know sexual tension when I see-“

“It’s not-” Joshua shouts a bit too loudly. “It’s not... like _that_. He thought I was flirting with him and instead of going with it I freaked out and now he probably thinks I’m crazy. He’s just so cute and honestly… when I found out he was friends with Hao, I…” He sighs. “I thought maybe I had a chance. But that was short-lived; maybe lasted a split second. I embarrassed myself in front of him, and besides, I’m too caught up in the pain an ex put me through to ever... to ever act on anything.”

“That’s kind of stupid.”

“ _Ten_ -”

“No, he’s right,” Joshua laughs bitterly. “It is. This was a high school ex, and here I am, a sophomore in college, still fucked up over it.”

“Did he cheat on you?”

Johnny sends Ten a look that would probably tell him to stop pushing it, but Ten, shockingly enough, ignores him.

“No,” Joshua’s so used to people dancing around him whenever he’s upset, or accepting his weak excuses and never pushing for more, so Ten’s blunt attitude is refreshing to him. Finally getting the opportunity to vent and get all of this mess off his chest, it’ll be good for him. He takes a deep breath and comes clean. “He fell in love with one of my friends.”

The couple simultaneously cringes at the confession.

“What a dick,” Johnny says sympathetically.

“Why’re you still so fucked up over somebody so shitty?” Ten asks him incredulously. Shock makes Joshua lift his head and looks Ten in the eyes for the first time since he’s gotten on the counter next to him. There’s an infectious fire lingering in his eyes that makes Joshua want to straighten his posture and puff out his chest. “It’s fucked up, but if he did that to you, he was never worth it. By being too scared to act on an opportunity like this... you’re just proving that he won. He hurt you and you’re still letting him hurt you. Come on, Joshua,” The boy in question is a little startled by the use of his actual name. “Instead of trying to get to know this cute boy who definitely thinks you're also very cute, you’re letting what this prick did stop you from possibly being happy again?”

Joshua’s eyes widen as Ten‘s tangent comes to an end.

“I... how do you know?”

“What?”

“How do you know he finds me... _cute_?”

“Oh my god,” Ten scoffs, “you’re helpless. Didn’t you see the way he was looking at you? He might be more whipped than you are. Jesus... I thought you said he was smart, Johnny.”

“I’m good at bullshitting ten-page papers, not at dealing with my crippling emotional issues. I’m _gay_ ,” Joshua emphasizes, and Johnny and Ten chuckle at the confession.

“Ten is what we like to classify as a confident gay,” Johnny says to Joshua, who doesn’t look surprised in the least.

“I’m a disaster gay.”

“Same. We can’t all be so confident,” Johnny pats Joshua’s shoulder sympathetically.

“And I’ve seen Hansol at these kinds of party’s before. He’s a panicked bi, at best,” Ten hops off the counter and stands right in front of Joshua. The face-to-face eye contact is intimidating, but he has a feeling that looking away will only frustrate Ten and he really wants the short boy to like him. “The only reason he probably acted confident at work was because _you_ were a wreck. I assure you, if you go out there,” he gestures with his thumb to the back door, “and strike up a conversation with him, make direct eye contact and maybe put a hand on his thigh, he’ll literally die on the spot.”

“You... really think he thinks I’m cute?”

“ _God_ , yes, Joshua,” Ten’s exasperated. “You’re hot. Johnny‘s told me, his own boyfriend, on many occasions, before I even saw you for myself.” Johnny sputters at the sudden exposure, but Ten sends him a look that makes him shut up. He’s flushed pink, and Joshua feels an odd sort of pride swell in his chest. “If you weren’t such a disaster I’d invite you home with us,” he grabs Johnny by the bicep, “but I don’t think I could handle two disasters in the bedroom at once, and you’re obviously already spoken for.”

Joshua feels his cheeks heat up at the notion, but he finds it reassuring. Two hot boys that wouldn’t be opposed to banging him? Maybe he was a catch.

Ten’s already dragging Johnny out onto the dance floor, but before they make it into the sweaty mass of bodies, they turn.

“Go get him, Shua!” Ten sends him a cheeky wink.

“You can do it, Josh!” Johnny gives him a thumbs up.

Joshua smiles back at them and hops of the counter. He dusts off his pants, straightens out his jacket, and with a new found confidence, makes his way to the back door.

He looked good, he felt good, and he was definitely speaking to Hansol tonight. And this time, he would not be the bumbling idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my kink is just… everyone having the hots for joshua! i swear this is an endgame jisol fic ok i just… i had to find someone to give joshua confidence. what better way to raise a boy’s confidence then to have johnten tell him that they’d definitely take him to pound town? (I’m Sorry)
> 
> i also wanted to thank the few people that have left me feedback, i'm really grateful for all your kind words. i’m gonna do my best not to give up on this no matter what, so your patience is greatly appreciated. next chapter we’ll finally get all the jisol we’ve been waiting for :)


End file.
